Even an experienced speaker
like Guy Kawasaki says, “Moderating a panel is
deceptively hard--harder, in fact, than keynoting."
This blog offers tips and examples on how to be a better
panel discussion moderator, with advice from The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels and speaker coach Denise Graveline.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Why moderators' pronunciation of panelist names matters

Knowing how to pronounce the names of your host and your panelists sounds like a no-brainer. It's common advice for panel moderators. But not every tipster understands the real importance in a name.

Who wins in the name game shares some insights that moderators might want to keep in mind, particularly about pronouncing your panel speakers' names correctly and fluently. From the article:

[T]he ability to pronounce someone’s name is directly related to how close you feel to that person. Our brains tend to believe that if something is difficult to understand, it must also be high-risk.

So practicing pronunciation--with guidance from the person being introduced--is not wasted time. It will connect the audience to the speaker, and make easy that early moment when we don't know enough about her.

For truly complex names, try actor Brad Pitt's method of making the foreign familiar to an audience. He introduced actor David Oyelowo, whose name is difficult for some to pronounce, using a sing-song method and audience participation, at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Notice that he begins by breaking down the syllables backwards, and uses the singing to pronounce it starting at the beginning. As for Oyelowo? He said, "You know you've broken through after Brad Pitt sings your name." If you want to emulate this approach, do coordinate in advance with the speaker in question. Here's the video: